Small Town in Focus
by Unsung Heros
Summary: Life in a small town sometimes can be full of secrets and lies. New things are not always as scary as they appear. Sometimes, it is the people you know and trusts the most that you should worry about.


Small Town in Focus

Words: 2213

Summary: Life in a small town sometimes can be full of secrets and lies. New things are not always as scary as they appear. Sometimes, it is the people you know and trust the most that you should worry about.

Pairing: Emmett/Rosalie, Canon

Rating: M

When you are born and raised in a small town, there are eyes everywhere. Don't worry about what will happen when your parents find out you did something wrong; the elders will ensure you are punished. Did Mrs. Cope see you riding your bike on the sidewalk? Not only will she tan your hide, when you get home, so will Momma and Daddy. Sometimes, you do not have to wait until you get home-another joy of living in a small town.

My name is Emmett John (McCarty) Cullen. This is my story about how I and my girlfriend, Rosalie Lillian (Hale) Webber, help to change the small town of Forks, Washington, for the better.

I am not lucky enough to live in a fun small town. I was not blessed to be from one of the founding families. Being from a founding family gives you privileges that normal folks just do not get. Normal folks include my family and me or my best friend, even though her family is a founding family. Because she wasn't born here or in a nearby hospital, she is considered an outsider. The ages of my brothers, sister, Rosalie, and I at the time of our adoptions make us targets. None of us were babies. The youngest of us was nine, which was Edward.

Her adoptive parents do the best they can with her, but they don't understand the level of abuse she suffered while living with her biological parents. They don't see the nightmares that she hides or the fact that if most guys try touching her can make her throw up. I watch as my best friend gets picked on; she is the joke of our small town because she's afraid of all the boys in town. Rose is afraid of being hurt again. The abuse she suffered by her father's "friends" may make her unable to have children. She is afraid someone will take what little freedom she has left. Like they tried to do in her old town. I do what I can for her, which, sadly, is not much. People don't believe her or me. See, I am not that much different than my best friend. We both grew up in abusive homes. Rose in a nearby city she doesn't name and me in a faraway small town in Tennessee I try not to think about, too many ghosts that haunt me from there, too many demons.

See, her parents were perfect from the outside. Their family was perfect. You would never have known the sick and twisted things that daddy dearest would allow to happen to her. As a child, he had friends who would use and abuse her. Because of his high standing in the city they lived in, nobody believed her. Black eyes and a bruised up body were normal for her. While she never fully got into what happened to her, I have seen enough pictures from her time before she lived with her parents to know there was no way any of that was an accident or that she was as clumsy as people thought she was. Sadly, one day, one of Rosalie's father's friends decided to go too far in his abuse. Let me just say she has a permanent limp now. Permanent scars riddle her body. To me though, she is still beautiful inside and out.

My story, on the other hand, starts in a faraway land. I was born in a small town, but my family went through a rough patch. My father got laid off from his job at the plant. My mother was a stay-at-home mom at that time. They both would leave the house for hours on end, leaving me home alone. I never had food unless I went to school or a friend's house. If I did that, I got beaten to a pulp when I got home. The abuse got worse as my father started drinking and drugging what little money we had away. My mother eventually left us, feeling she was meant for bigger and better things. Once their divorce was finalized, I got beaten within an inch of my life often. More than once, I was brought back to life by paramedics and doctors. They felt bad for my father. So many times the abuse was covered up. It was reported as a football injury here or falling out of a tree there. One time, they reported it as a single car accident. The police were never notified until a new doctor and nurse came and saw my medical history. They called the authorities, and I was taken elsewhere. I was put into foster care for a while, where I was adopted by an old school buddy of the doctor who saved me and his wife, Dr. Carlisle and Mrs. Esme Cullen. They were looking for an older child to adopt, to love, and to make a part of their family when I was twelve. They were looking to relocate to the Pacific Northwest, which was great to me. I wanted nothing to do with the small town that scared me. I wanted to have a new place and a new identity. Forks sounded like a dream come true. Sadly, it was not the case for me or my family.

At first, my family was welcomed with open arms. A well-respected surgeon in the small town hospital meant there was no more having to go to Seattle for care. Forks General Hospital was thrilled to get Dr. Carlisle Cullen. They loved him until they met his wife and adopted children. They had adopted me, and two other boys. They wanted to adopt one or two more high-risk children. The Cullens could not have their own children, so they adopted children who needed homes. My brothers and I were well behaved.

We never wanted to make ourselves unliked in our new town. We wanted to be treated like people. Instead, we were treated like second-class citizens. We were not worthy of the good school equipment. We weren't allowed any slack when it came to our studies. On our first day at school, all the teachers had pop quizzes that my brothers and I by some miracle passed. We were suspended for cheating. No one came to our defense. Everyone around me failed. How could I cheat and pass with an 87 in World History, 84 in Chemistry, 95 in Civics, 80 in English Comp, and 86 in Sociology. If I had looked at other students' papers when the highest score around me was 64. My parents fought this and eventually won, but the suspension will stay on my record since I was rude to the teachers.

"Mr. Cullen, had you been here in class instead of skipping, you would know," one teacher said.

It is true. My family did not make us go to school the day after we got to Forks. We got into town on Monday afternoon. Mom and Dad gave us a day to slack off on Tuesday. The school knew we were coming on Wednesday. On Wednesday, we got pop quizzes.

Nobody wanted to hang out with us except for three girls, who later became our best friends. Then, they became our girlfriends. Each of us was an outsider in this small town. Each of us for one reason or another was not welcome to join the party.

Edward Anthony Masen Cullen's real parents were killed in a car accident. He had no family on either side who could care for him after his mother's parents died just two months after his mother. He was ten when the Cullen's adopted him.

Isabella Marie "Bella" Swan's dad is the chief of police here in town. Her mom is a real flake and moved her around for years until she was sick of her and sent her to Forks. Sadly, it was the first stability she'd had since she was three.

Jasper David (Whitlock) Cullen's real father is serving twenty-five to life for murdering his real mom. His family refused to take in the spawn of the devil, so he ran away from the Houston, Texas, area and ended up getting picked up in West Virginia where he was put in the system there. His biological family is really missing out on such a great guy. Their loss is my family's gain.

Mary Alice (Brandon) Webber is a free spirit. Her family could not handle her and thought she was evil. They shipped her off to a family friend who they knew would not be able to take care of her, and she would wind up a ward of the state. That happened when she was four. When she was nine, the state finally came and took her, but the damage was done. Thankfully, Alice is still a great girl. She's just high strung and needs to know she is loved all the time.

Then, there is Rosalie Lillian (Hale) Webber. Her abuse still breaks my heart, which sadly continues with one of the jerks of school, Royce King. He thinks that he is God's gift to women and no means yes. Nobody did anything about it until Rosalie came along.

The issue with Royce and idiots like him is that he is a big fish in a small pond. So, to the greater Forks/LaPush area, he is the man to be seen with, or so he tells everyone.

He stalked her, Bella, and Alice. They always walked together or with Edward, Jasper, and me, believing in strength in numbers. Normally, there is no issue.

Then, one day, Rose had a doctor appointment. An appointment that only the six of us knew about. What we did not realize was that the doctor is related to Royce. So HIPPA laws were broken when Dr. Jane Volturi let her nephew, Royce, know that the girl he wanted had an appointment at two p.m. I was with her, but we agreed to let her go in by herself. I still have not forgiven myself for leaving her alone like that. Thankfully, I was nearby when I heard her scream. I was close enough that he barely got to touch her, but he did rip her shirt off and hike her skirt up before my body slammed him into the wall. The police were called, and Rosalie and I were both arrested. Royce was not. We were outsiders, or so it felt.

By the time my lawyer and parents came to the station, Rosalie and I had been released and Royce and Dr. Volturi had been arrested. Royce was arrested for aggravated assault, attempted sexual assault, attempted kidnapping, and falsifying statements to the police and District Attorneys office. Dr. Volturi was arrested for violating HIPPA, falsifying records to insurance companies, attempted kidnapping and rape for allowing her office to be used.

Many people were upset by this and felt that Rose must have asked for it. If she was in a room naked, she must have been asking for it. It killed me that people thought she deserved this hell. I wanted to protect her all the time, but I sadly can't. Thankfully, she is a strong woman.

Eventually, there was a proper investigation and trial. It was on the news that Royce King was arrested in connection to several possible rapes and molestations in the area, and they asked anyone with more information to contact the Washington State Police; troopers Sam Uley and Paul Lahote would gladly assist in this case. Women from Forks, La Push, Port Angeles, Seattle, and many other towns along the coast of Washington State came forward with concerns that he was their rapist or assailant.

All-in-all, he was charged with several rapes, statutory rapes, attempted rapes, bullying, blackmail, and assaults-what an asshole.

To say that he was fucked would be an understatement. At best, he'd have twenty-five years to life. I think once the jury hears all the evidence in his next trial, he will get life in prison. That prick thought that he could bully his way out of this verdict.

Sadly, there are several others who are going down with him for threatening witnesses, more assaults, battery, bullying, and blackmail. James Hunter, Victoria Sutherland, Laurent DeBois, and Caius and Marcus Volturi were put on trial and eventually put in jail for their crimes.

It came out that it was the Volturi and King families who were behind the treatment that my family, Rosalie, and Bella all faced. Once they were gone, things got easier for us. People had been afraid of them. Change is never easy in a small town. The fact that there was a boom of adopted kids and teenagers from foster care might have been a scary thought for this small town. But, thankfully my siblings, friends, and I all helped bring a positive spin to adopting teens or older children as well as kids in foster care.

After things calmed down with all the drama with the Volturi/King family, there was a boom in adoption and foster parenting in the area. Sometimes, heroes don't have capes. They are kids who have been through hell, and through it all, they make the world a better place.


End file.
